Compilation of the APEL dossier

 

A demonstration that ‘learning outcomes’ of  Foundation Level modules has been met.

 

In the website, a range of materials has been assembled that would enable a student to demonstrate that they had achieved all of the learning outcomes associated with a range of modules, thus allowing a claim for APEL (Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning). These modules are not actually studied in the course as, in the view of the course designers, much of the material (or similar material) can be said to have been acquired in the course of one’s working life. A portfolio which demonstrated that all of these outcomes had been successfully met would be able to claim credit against study of these modules.  As two modules are studied per semester, then the complete claim for six modules is worth 1½ years worth of study – and a claim for three modules half of that, which is ¾ year of study.  So it is evident that a successful claim for APEL will substantially shorten the amount of time that it takes to achieve a Foundation Level degree (2 calendar years) and a full Honours degree (3½ calendar years).

 

The materials selected in the website

 

These materials have been carefully selected so they are written at the appropriate level and of the right length (i.e. not so brief that they are not of much use, not so lengthy that  the message that they convey is buried).  They are selected so that in order to comply with the APEL Task (which is typically 400 or 500 words), the material gives all of the background materials necessary  to successfully complete the task.  The assumption that lays behind the materials is that downloading, printing, reading and marking out relevant sections (with a marker pen) should take an hour at the most, whilst the actual writing of 400-500 words should also take another hour or even less. In practice, when you become more and more skilful at achieving your task, you may well be able to undertake the task in much less than two hours. To give you an idea of how much 400 words  (or 2/3rds of a page) actually is, then the length of this document up to the end of this sentence is exactly 400 words, so an APEL task of this length would fit the requirement!

 

How many APEL tasks are there?

 

The number of APEL tasks at both the Generic and the Contemporary Business Skills level is shown in the table below:

 

	Generic Skills		Tasks	Common Business Skills		Tasks
	Introduction to Business Communication	IBC	8	Business Thinking	BTH	6
	Political, Legal and Social Environment	PLS	6	Individual and Organisational Behaviour	IOB	6
	Introduction to the Study of Management	ISM	4	Techniques of Business Decisions	TBD	8
			18			20

 

There are not quite so many tasks in practice as this table indicates.  For example, in the Introduction to Business Communications module, the fact of word-processing your APEL application will itself satisfy one of the learning outcomes.  Similarly, in the Introduction to the Study of Management,  the exploration of further opportunities for APEL is not a substantial task (as you will typically be making a claim for 6 module credits in any case)  The word-count for all of the activities associated with a module should be of the order of 3,000 words which is about 7-8 pages in length.

 

Will I be able to manage this process satisfactorily?

 

At first glance, this claim for APEL might seem to be a substantial task.  However, much of the time associated with learning activities is often associated with assembling the materials into one place and this has already been done for you, allowing you to concentrate your time on the activities demanded. In some cases, you could cite your own experience as a substitute for the activities mentioned if you feel this is a functional alternative and we would encourage you to do this.  Once you have started on the process, it will be regular and steady progress that will help you. There are three sources of help and advice over and above those given in the actual source materials:

·        the Forum where you can exchange ideas with other applicants

·        past students who have indicated they are more than willing to offer help and advice.
          Names/contact numbers/emails are provided at the conclusion of this document

·        A KAC tutor (Professor Mike Hart in the first instance)

 

If you like, it will be possible to offer modules ‘one at a time’ and receive feedback that this is satisfactory before one moves onto the next.  We would also anticipate, if you agree, that some of  your efforts might be made available over the Web to other students so that you can share good practice with each other.

 

 

 

 

A note on the type of files provided on the website

 

The files on the website are usually one of four types i.e.

·        .htm or .html files

·        .doc files (Microsoft Word)

·        .ppt files (MicroSodt Power point)

·        .pdf files (Adobe Acrobat Portable Document files)

 

.htm or .html files

 

Where possible, I have tried to get or convert a document to an .htm or .html file. This way, the document is read straight into the browser and displays quickly, expanding text to fill the whole of the screen.  Printing should format the document nicely as well (check in FileàPrint Preview before a print)  This way, even if the website moves you still have a copy of the material even though it is ‘frozen’ at the point of capture.

 

.doc files

 

These documents will be read by Word.  However, they will load a little more slowly as your system has to load Word  and then the actual Word file.

 

 

.ppt files

 

These are Microsoft PowerPoint files, usually written by academics as lecture courses or as conference presentations.  They often only contain bullet points but can provide useful summaries.  In this case, PowerPoint needs to be loaded first before the file will display.

 

.pdf files

 

These are Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Files which preserve all of the formatting and images in the original. They may be copied and saved but not generally edited.  Some authors will have set a permission to allow you to ‘cut-and-paste’ into a Word document whereas others will not allow you to do this.  You will need to have a Reader installed to view this software (the vast majority of systems already have one)  If you need to download a free version of the software, then you can do it here.  PDF files are generally quite large and slow (because they are essentially large but compressed images)  When the source is a pdf file, you will see a little Acrobat symbol besides it  which looks like this!

 

URL references

 

Although not files, these are websites that contain useful material.  These websites can always change, so if you find a broken or inoperative link then email Mike Hart so that he can recreate it or substitute another suitable source.

 

Sometimes, the site author (Mike Hart) has stitched together documents or removed substantial formatting such as adverts, photos, extraneous .gif files and the like in order to provide accessible material.  Therefore hypertext links to other sources etc. may well not work.

 

 

 

 

How to use the material for an APEL Task.

 

In general, you will soon get used to conducting tasks.  Remember that the material is only to be a useful source – if a source is not particularly helpful, then discard it.  Be ruthless about selecting material to stay within your word-limits.  You may well find that the following 3-stage process is helpful:

·        download the material(s)

·        read and then mark up (day glo) relevant sections

·        write your task, keeping strictly to the word limit.

 

What kind of stance shall I take in my material?

 

The following guidance is offered to you.

·        keep descriptive material down to the absolute minimum that you need to show that you have read/understood the concepts under review.

 

·        be critical of the material i.e. if a particular theory does not appear to ‘fit’ then indicate so in your writing.  Part of the academic process is being able to assess the value of material that others have written

·        be at pains to apply to your own work situation, as the task description demands.

 

 

 

List of students who can offer support and advice to you

 

Here is a list of third year students who have successfully completed the Certificate and are now well on their way to obtaining their full Honours Degree.  They have all given permission for their names and emails to be circulated and would be delighted to hear from you and to help you.

 

 

	Peter Byrne	Winchester City Council	PByrne@winchester.gov.uk
	Jane Edsell	HCC	jane.edsell@hants.gov.uk
	Susan Fillmore	HCC	susan.fillmore@hants.gov.uk
	Angela Grosvenor	HCC	angela.grosvenor@hants.gov.uk
	David Harris	Test Valley	dharris@testvalley.gov.uk
	Sioux Thirtle	HCC	sioux.thirtle@hants.gov.uk
	Moira Townsend	Hampshire Fire and Rescue	firamt@hants.gov.uk

 

Author:  Mike Hart (Last revised: 27^th April, 2004)